What incentive do I have not to sin if I am already in the state of mortal sin?

Full Question

It is my understanding that if someone dies in the state of mortal sin he will not go to heaven. What incentive do I have not to sin if I am already in the state of mortal sin?

Answer

The incentive not to sin always ought to be the desire not to offend God. Even if someone has fallen and committed a mortal sin, he should desire not to offend God any further. We live to serve him. Avoiding eternal punishment should be a side issue. He ought to come first.
The reason a person does not go to heaven if he dies in the state of mortal sin is that he is deliberately rejecting God and is choosing something or someone else as the ultimate object of his love. The Lord will never reject one who dies loving him. If he approaches death in the state of mortal sin and repents because he loves the Lord, the Lord will welcome him. Jesus endured Good Friday precisely because he loves us. Our incentive should always be to respond to his love. That is always appropriate for each and every one of us!

6 Comments

God is all powerful; Omnipotent. He is also a merciful and loving God. As such you must understand this; that God has the ability to forgive. It is possible that you have committed sins against God and perhaps it was a mortal sin. but through a true repentance, meaning it must come from the heart, you can change your ways. It is not a bartering system of “if I do this will you do that?”. It is based on our love and respect for God. In other words, your want and need to live a good life and make changes should be based on your wanting to please God and to be a better person. God knows what is truly in each of our hearts. If it is an honest and true intention and you live your life sharing his love and message it is possible that you could save others from the same plight. Imagine how many souls you may be able to save! Perhaps showing others the road to God’s love. In the end when you do meet God, perhaps he will be happy with your work and smile upon your accomplishments. He has the power to forgive even your mortal sin, after all he is God. In the bible it states that a sinner not knowing Gods ways may repent and be saved once he has come to know God, but one that now knows God and his ways and still continues to sin is certainly doomed.

Sorry Arex. That is not biblical. Faith to Christ alone does not guarantee you to go to heaven. Jesus never spoken this heresy. Jesus spoke to also do good works and to believe in him. That is very clear. You are actually contradicting the Bible. “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” – 2:24 Book of James.

FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS A DEAD FAITH (Man’s Side – LAW)
FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS A LIVING FAITH (God’s Side – GRACE)
* Why did James said Faith without works is dead?
* Why was Abraham declared righteous when he lived before the Law was given to Moses?
= This proves that righteousness obtained not by works(law) but by faith. But, James gave his heart on this on the law(man’s) side. (I really2x hope that we are having this conversation in person to arrange it all more easy.) God doesn’t need any works or deeds for Him to conclude that you have faith. You know why? Because He can read your heart and mind all the time. The moment you believe on Him He sees it right away and He can conclude it weather its faith or doubt. No works needed. However man cannot read heart and mind of course of which faith resides. So, in order for a man to judge your faith, he must see it. HOW? by your works or deeds. Your deeds then conclude your faith(man’s side). But the danger is this, we are not perfect, what is in our heart and mind that we intend to do is far more different from what we suppose to do. Like Paul, he said things I ought to do I don’t and things I didn’t ought to do I do. He found out that there is sin living in Him. Sin twisted what is really the truth. One thing, we can assume that we have faith though we don’t have because the basis is works. When we fail to express what really is within our hearts does it nullify our faith? or made our faith fake? for example? Do you love your HUSBAND/WIFE? I know your answer is YES. Do you want to hurt him/her? Of course your answer is NO. That’s your heart. You know it very well that even God can testify with you that you love your spouse so much. but, your spouse doesn’t believe that unless it will be shown by your actions. but the moment you fail did it made your love fake or dead because you fail? you will stand and say NO! Because you yourself knew it. Because you and God can read your own heart and mind.
The moment we fail to express what really within our hearts someone will accuse us that we have a fake faith. But the grace of God doesn’t look on our performance that the LAW did. The law will check your woks, deeds or performance. once you fail, weather you are in faith, the law will condemn you not because you are faithless but by your works. LAW checks your works or deeds. Law doesn’t really care 10000000% about your faith.
That’s our problem. we have faith but we can be failed soooooo easily.
Thanks be to God by His great Love, he made the LAW satisfied once and for all by Jesus Christ so we can be righteous all the time weather we fail, because the basis of our righteousness is no longer in our actions(LAW) but by of our faith(GRACE). HALLELUJAH!!!
THEREFORE: God can testify your faith even apart from WORKS or DEEDS.

If one truly study Scripture, one will discover that our Lord and Savior [Yeshua/Jesus] was not crucified on good Friday. Yeshua [Jesus] Himself stated that He would be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights…you can not get three days and three nights, starting with Sunset Friday until Sunrise Sunday; however, if we follow the outline, given in Scripture [the Bible], we would discover that God gave Israel the pattern… outlining Yeshua’s death, burial, and resurrection. God commanded Israel…on the tenth day [Sunday] of Nisan [1st month of the biblical year…March-April] you are to take an unblemished lamb [Yeshua/Jesus], into your homes; inspect the lamb for four days [the length/period of time Yeshua’s trial took place…false accusations (looking for defects); then, on the 14th day [Thursday] of Nisan [Passover], everyone, in each household, was to participate, in killing the lamb [Yeshua]; note: each day, on the biblical Calender, began at Sunset; then God instructed the Israelites…immediately following Passover, you are to eat unleaven bread [symbolic of Yeshua being sinless]; then, on the 17th day of Nisan [Sunday], you are to make a Wave Offering [the Resurrection] unto the Lord; thus, Yeshua died on Pesach [Passover]…Sunset Wednesday-Sunset Thursday; He was buried on the Feast of Unleaven Bread [a High Holy Day]…which, immediately, follows Pesach [Sunset Thursday-Sunset Friday]. Yeshua remained in the grave, from Sunset Friday-Sunset Saturday [the weekly Sabbath]; because, no work could be done on God’s Sabbath Days [Holy Days plus the weekly Sabbath]; therefore, sometime during the night [Sunday begins when the sun sets on Saturday] Yeshua arose from the grave. Confusion occurred, because most believers are told that the Older [Old] Testament has been done away with…that we are under the Newer (New) Testament, instead of a New Covenant; therefore, most people only read portions of the Newer Testament, and they are not aware of God’s Holy Days, which give us the outline of His Salvation Plan for mankind. When the Bible speaks of…they hurried to take Yeshua down from the stake, because the Sabbath was approaching, this verse has been misunderstood to be the weekly Sabbath [Friday]; however, if we studied the Older [Old] Testament, we would plainly see that Yeshua died on Passover; He was buried on the feast of Unleaven Bread [immediately following Passover], and He arose on the Feast of First Fruits. Yeshua came to fulfill the Law, not to abolish the law and start a new Religion…Yeshua fulfilled [to the letter] all of God’s Spring Holy Days, during His first coming; when Yeshua returns [second coming] He will fulfill [to the letter] all of God’s Fall Festivals/Holy Days…Hanukkah-the Feast of Trumpets [symbolic of the Rapture]; Yom Kippur-the Day of Atonement [the day God will remove partial/blindness from the Jewish people], and Sukkot-the feast of Tabernacles [the 1,000 year reign of Yeshua and the Church on Earth]. As a youth, I saw this discrepancy, immediately [a good Friday burial, and a Sunday morning resurrection, that didn’t add up]…I was told by those, who thought they knew God’s word, that I was wrong…they tried to justify this error in understanding, with all kind of excuses, when all they had to do was take God at His Word…search the Scriptures to show yourself approved; but most importantly, allow the Ruach Ha-Kodesh [the Holy Spirit] to guide you, in understanding God’s Holy Scriptures.